Top 15 Offshore Gambling Sites in India Generate 5.8B Visits in 12 Months

A new report and analysis by CUTS International argues that there are more than 5.8 billion visits to just the top 15 gambling platforms. The report specifically outlines 15 brand names and argues that there are 40 other mirror sites used to dodge geo-blocking.

Indian’s Leading Offshore Brands Are Outstripping Amazon and Wikipedia in Search Traffic

The report names many popular online casinos and sports betting websites with a strong reputation among consumers, which may nevertheless be considered “illegal” in India, where Internet gambling is outlawed, or in a state of grey area at the very best.

The report, which focused on analyzing traffic data between April 2024 and March 2025, has named brands such as 1xBet, Parimatch, Fairplay, and BaterBet as some of the companies to have received the lion’s share of the traffic coming out of India.

Denizens looking for Internet gambling options have been more prolific than people looking up popular websites such as Amazon.in, Wikipedia.org, Google.co.in, x.com, and many others, CUTS International explained, highlighting the findings of the report and further emphasizing what it meant.

Parimatch specifically managed to outrank every other website in terms of traffic, the analysis claimed. The analysis went a step further than simply stating facts, focusing on core aspects of these websites, including how payments are usually carried out and how these brands go about acquiring customers.

Strong Advertising Opportunities in India

CUTS International has called the practices duplicitous, however, arguing that the brands that target and seek to acquire Indian gamblers use a veneer of trustworthiness to push their messaging with locals. The analysis outlined numerous forms of advertisement, including celebrity endorsement, billboards, traditional TV, and instant messaging apps, such as Telegram and WhatsApp.

CUTS International said that Google is also partially to blame because it allowed these websites to be successfully ranked and indexed in the country. Referral traffic has been one of the biggest drivers for players, with 810,43 million visits raked in this way, with 1xBet said to have been the biggest beneficiary.

CUTS International argued that the websites that operate without a license in states across India have been very successful at what they do for a variety of reasons. Among those is the websites’ cited ability to cultivate direct relationships with their target user bases, and optimize their search engine presence, i.e. adopt strong SEO practices that allow them to stay visible.

Mirror sites are also optimized so that they are reachable and so that any existing geo-blocks can be altogether avoided. Blocking URLs is not an efficient way to address these multi-million dollar businesses’ reach in India, argues the analysis.

Go After Payments to Shut Down Offshore Business

CUTS International goes a step further, arguing that the companies are very adaptable and flexible, allowing them to change and adjust to anything that they believe would give them a boost in the rankings.

They also create a “higher-risk betting” environment in which players feel like they are having fun, but this comes with risks for them.

As to what can be done to fight back against brands that are seen as operating illegally, CUTS International recommends targeting payment providers specifically.